The center of our Galaxy, the Milky Way
This rich field is filled with many famous celestial objects.
- At the bottom left, two small clusters, M7 or Ptolemy's Cluster and M6 or the Butterfly Cluster, are favorite binocular targets of mine.
- Starting at my logo (bottom right), there is a dark nebula (a cloud of dust or gas) called the (Peace) Pipe nebula with smoke curling "up" out of the bowl to the right
- The bright patch just above M6 and M7 is the Large Sagittarius Star Cloud, which is a rare window through the dark dust and gas into the central bulge of our galaxy.
- The galaxy center is just to the right of of the star cloud, but it is unfortunately obscured by that river of dust and gas that darkens the center of this image.
- At center, the bright reddish spot is the M8, the Lagoon Nebula. Near it to the right are the M20, Trifid Nebula, and M21 open cluster.
- Just above those items, is the bright knot of stars known as M24 or the Lesser Sagittarius Star Cloud.
- Just to the left and a little above is M25, an open cluster.
- Just above M24 to the right are two red blobs represent M17, the Omega Nebula and M16 The Eagle Nebula.
This only covers the better known objects in this area! Each knot of stars, dark patch, or red blob has a name and story. It's a fascinating region to observe with binoculars. Just find a spot with good southern exposure, reasonably dark skies, during the summer and look for the Milky Way.